Enea Bastianini secured the first position in the Moto GP at the Portuguese Grand Prix, with the Ducati rider leading the pack for the first time since Austria in 2022.
Bastianini clocked a lap time of 1:37.706s and faced a challenge from Maverick Vinales in the final stages to secure pole position.
Unfortunately for Vinales, he lost precious time in the final sector of the lap in Portimão, finishing 0.082 seconds behind Bastianini, but still holding onto second place.
Jorge Martin completes the first row of the grid for the upcoming races, qualifying in third place, with only 0.106s separating the top three riders before the Sprint.
Francesco Bagnaia was unable to improve on his provisional pole time but will start in a promising fourth position, aiming to extend his lead in the championship.
KTM had a mixed qualifying session, with Jack Miller securing fifth place, despite briefly holding second position behind Bagnaia’s Ducati.
On the other hand, KTM rider Brad Binder suffered a crash at turn 5 early in the session, limiting his lap times and placing him in tenth position on the grid.
After a challenging performance in Qatar and a 14th place finish, VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi will start in sixth place, with hopes of boosting his campaign in the championship.
Rookie Pedro Acosta leads the way in the third row, qualifying in a respectable seventh place, especially considering his passage through Q1.
Unfortunately, Marc Marquez could only manage eighth place after an early crash at turn 15, which forced him to switch to his spare bike.
Alex Marquez, Marc’s brother, was the only rider in Q2 who failed to set a lap time, despite advancing from Q1 alongside Acosta.
The Yamaha riders, Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, secured ninth and 11th place, respectively, with Rins trailing the leading pace by 0.796s, providing optimism for the Japanese manufacturer.
Aleix Espargaro’s disappointing weekend continued as he failed to advance from Q1, becoming the most prominent name to miss out and leaving him with a significant amount of work to do.
The other two Aprilia riders for Team Trackhouse positioned themselves in 15th and 16th place, with local hero Miguel Oliveira leading the way.
Elsewhere, Fabio DiGiannantonio found himself among the Aprilia riders as the four competitors fought fiercely in a tight Q2 session, separated by less than 0.200s.
Franco Morbidelli couldn’t replicate his strong performance in practice, qualifying in 17th place. However, the Italian seems to be making progress after his absence in testing.
With Augusto Fernandez starting in 18th place on the last KTM, both Honda teams had a disappointing result as all four riders will occupy the back of the grid, led by Johann Zarco.
